“Old man take a look at my life, I’m a lot like you were”
Always pushing the limits. And I will never stop doing it. Sunday was my first big test. The Ultra Trail Marathon from Olne to Spa and back. A total of 67km, 2400 altitude meters. The day before we slept in a castle, 3km from the start. Epic. -9°C during the night, snow and ice. We woke up around 06:00 am, got a good breakfast and prepared ourselves for the start.
We set off at 8:10 am with 481 participants (of which 147 wouldn’t make the finish) in Olne, around -5°C, sun is out, sky was blue but freezin’ cold. I took a very comfortable pace, and tried to maintain it as much as possible. Arrived at the first checkpoint (17k) after 2h20 min. I had a difficult moment after 3h30 min, I felt I was short in sugar so there came the candy and the Isostar bars.
I guess I was at the 2nd checkpoint (32km) after 4h30 min, hot tea and rice was provided. Good stuff. But I made a mistake by staying too long (9 min.) at the checkpoint: your body temperature decreases so quick when standing still I had a hard time heathing up when I continued the course. When I arrived at 48k, I felt I was going to make it. I passed the 5h30 min. pretty ok, so this was going well. Still, the inclines remained hard, your upperlegs are killing you. On to the last checkpoint at 60k, only stayed there 2min, I wanted to get this over with.
Last 5k to go, I was remarkably feeling good. My goal was getting in before dark, and so I did. After 9h10min I was at the finish. Had a hot tea and cheese sandwiches. Great. I am officially an ultra runner !
Learned a few things today: eat, eat, eat. And drink, drink, drink. Drank around 4liter during the course. And keep on eating, cashews are the calorie bomb to eat. And it keeps your salt level up. Also, once you passed the 50k, it doesn’ really matter how much km to go. You can handle everything. And always count down to the next checkpoint, never the total km of the course. A good pre-course briefing and preparation are vital (thanks Mutse!).
And a very positive note: by finishing this course, I have earned my first point for the The North Face Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc.
